Forevermore
by EricaOswin
Summary: In an alternate universe, Amelia Pond is taken by Gatherers. {Story One in the Chemical Pond Series}


The Chemical Pond Series||Book One ~ Forevermore

Chapter One

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It starts with a scream. In the beginning that's all there is; a shriek of pure terror, a rush of panic. The sound of a heartbeat.

But it couldn't belong to Amelia. It was too loud. Too violent. Thrashing in her chest, dominating her sense of sound.

They grab her a few blocks away from the house, in the darkened streets so close to safety. The ominous gray van rolls to a stop and the men in the same color climb out. Amelia Pond doesn't notice them at first; she's too busy struggling with her bags, seven of them, which seem to be getting heavier with each step. She sets them down on the pavement in front of her and when she straightens back up, the men stand in front of her.

They form a predatory circle, closing her in.

It's the panic that kicks in first. Amelia knows who they are, what they do for a living. There's only one way this could go, but that doesn't stop her from being human; from fighting them off. Or trying to, at least. The knife from her belt is in her hand in a matter of moments, and she has it pointed at the man directly in front of her.

"Get back," she growls, edging the tip of the knife closer to him. "Just…get back. You're not taking me, not again." Maybe it's the Scottish accent that makes her sound less threatening, or her rounded baby face. Either way, the men in gray hardly seem worried for their wellbeing.

"Miss Pond, that won't be necessary," says the man at the end of her knife. His light gray eyes bore into hers and an image of the moon flashes in Amelia's mind.

"How…how do you know my name?" Her grip on the knife never falters. Her hope does.

"You're very hard to find Miss Pond." She swallows at his words, the words of the man with moon eyes. Hard to fine. That meant he was looking. He was a gatherer. That meant someone was _paying_ him to look. But why? She's just Amelia.

"Why do you know my name?" She pushes the knife forward, until it collides with his chest. It's not breaking skin or even making a scratch, but it is keeping him at a distance.

"Because he told us. He had to. We couldn't find you without a name."

Amelia blinks. The trembling starts in the hand holding the knife, then moves up her arm. It goes to the other one, infects her spine, and then begins in her legs. It radiates throughout her body and she can't stop it.

"Don't be afraid, Miss Pond. He told us not to hurt you, at any cost." The moon-eyed man smacks the knife out of her hand, and it clatters to the pavement. The men around her snap into action and move in on her. The first pair of arms wrap around her shoulders, the second around her waist.

Both of her feet are still free and she uses them to slam into the chest of the moon-eyed man. He falls to the ground in front of her and she kicks her legs wildly, because maybe there _is_ a way out of this. A third gatherer tries to subdue her, wrapping his arm around one leg but not the other. Amelia uses it to kick the fourth one, who bends over to pick up her knife. She trashes wildly, slamming her back into the men behind her and using her free leg to hurt the ones off to the side.

They mumble and course and yell but she can't hear them because her heart is pounding too loud and her brain is buzzing too fast. The men swirl all around her and her world is filled with gray. Still, she does not stop struggling, not even when more men climb out of the truck.

Her body is moving without her mind and her mind is a blank, hollow place.

It dawns on her later that _this_ is terror.

It takes eight men to subdue Amelia Pond, and when they've finally got complete control of her, they throw her in the back of their van.

That's when the screams begin, loud, long earth shattering screams. They're dark and violent and forever but no one hears them and no one comes to save Amelia Pond. The metal doors close and lock and the screams don't stop. She pounds against the doors and walls and thrashes against the floor. There is no one else in the van. No one else in this hell.

She screams until her voice breaks and her throat aches and talking is no longer an option. She stays awake until she gets dizzy; when her mind and thoughts are muddled and there's nothing she can do except listen to the sound of her beating heart.

This nightmare couldn't belong to Amelia.

But it did.

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I was supposed to be going on hiatus. And then this happened. Ah, well.

You know, the usual: Reviews are love:3


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